Man with the golden pen and a loaded imagination

Share via

An enigma about James Bond has endured for years: where does the real world of
Ian Fleming end and the fictional world of 007 begin?

Fleming himself complicated the question by hinting — particularly when
talking to pretty women at dinner parties — that the intrepid secret agent
was based on his own experiences of espionage, but that the Official Secrets
Act prevented him from revealing the full extent of his exploits.

Bond and Fleming did have much in common.

Both were naval officers, with great charisma and a snappy dress sense. Both
were keen gamblers, seducers and heavy drinkers: in the